Art of Humanity

At a very early age of about 4, I began to draw and paint. I remember at around 7 years old having my own art studio in a large closet in our family’s 2 bedroom basement apartment near McGill University. My beloved artist was Vincent Van Gogh.

Years later I painted furiously in a small attic apartment in Amsterdam on Vondel Park not far from the Vincent Van Gogh Museum. I was invited to exhibit my work at the Mensa in Amsterdam.

In Paris some time later in the early 70’s my work took on grotesque images of human forms interweaving within one another in a somewhat sexual context.

Back in Canada late seventies I believe my work blossomed in what I call ‘Human Synthesis’– man’s relationship to science and technology. My quote from 1981, “We become our dreams. Human dreams aspire to penetrate the mysteries of life. Man’s voyage of conquest to fathom these universal mysteries, and then through his discoveries, to build the perfect world, is what I deem HUMAN SYNTHESIS.”

My work explored the relationship between man and the explosion of the new sciences and technologies in the 1960’s and 70’s; and the incredibly cultured and sophisticated inventive genius that we have become. I nicknamed us the: Homo Spaciens.

Paintings

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas DNA Synthesis 1982

Painting on Plexiglas DNA Synthesis 1982

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas

Painting on Plexiglas

Theodore Fairhurst

Painting on Plexiglas Human Synthesis 1983

Painting on Plexiglas Human Synthesis 1983

Theodore Fairhurst

Paintings on Plexiglas Synthetic Life Structure 1982

Paintings on Plexiglas Synthetic Life Structure 1982

Theodore Fairhurst

“As an artist, Fairhurst sees man living within a cocoon spun from his own genius, a synthetic environment created solely by and for himself, the antithesis of what we consider as nature. His paintings focus on this non-natural, synthetic essence of man. Every line, every color, every suggestion, and every image must be man-made. They are designed to reflect the artificial environment we erect within the cocoon, and they correlate science and technology as perfectly natural developments of the human experience.”

“It would, however, be a mistake not to recognize the underlying sense of humanity inherent in all of Fairhurst’s paintings. The single most dominant theme conveyed through his images is that technology, with all its myriad offshoots, will become mankind’s great liberator. The painting DNA Synthesis represents the creation of an artificial DNA molecule, the genetic code that could lead to a cure for cancer. Man’s confidence in his ability to find the answers to his woes becomes the invincible catalyst. In Synthetic Life Structure the excitement of the search is stressed again, but this time more subtly, defining intelligence as a delicately woven mechanism propelled by an enthusiasm of immense proportions. In the piece entitled Human Synthesis, the human being is portrayed in an abstract pose suggesting a profound depth of mind, perfectly in sync with its environment, yet radiating a mysterious secure sense of self. Fairhurst relishes those moments when the mind is drugged with inspiration, when meaning is injected into the bloodstream, and when hope has no tormentors. Such are the pregnant surfaces of each of his paintings.” S. Robertson (1982)